Egypt Transitional Interim Country Strategic Plan (Jan 2018 – Jun 2018)

T-ICSP approved by ED in November 2017. Revision 01 approved by the CD in September 2018.

Since 2014, Egypt has taken a number of concrete steps towards ensuring social, political and economic stability. A new constitution was ratified in 2014, emphasizing inclusiveness and social justice, and the Government introduced Egypt’s Vision 2030, a ten-pillar roadmap to address the country’s economic, social and environmental development. A series of economic reforms supported the gradual improvement of the economy, with the real gross domestic product growth reaching 4.3 percent in 2015/16, a significant recovery from its lowest level of about 2.1 percent between 2010/11 and 2013/14. 

Although there have been evident improvements in the economy, Egypt continues to face major challenges that include poverty, food insecurity, malnutrition, spatial and social disparity, gender-based inequality, and environmental degradation. The Government implements a large social protection system that provides food subsidies to vulnerable members of the population, including to pregnant and lactating women, school children, people with disabilities and the elderly, though large inclusion and exclusion criteria remain major challenges. Since 2016, the weakened value of the Egyptian Pound has contributed to significant inflation in food prices, which has further contributed to rising food insecurity across the country. Given that Egypt is a mass importer of a number of staple goods, including wheat and corn, national food systems are highly vulnerable to internal and external factors. Adding further strain to existing resources, Egypt has been host to large numbers of refugees from Syria and other neighbouring countries since 2011.

Egypt has achieved many of the Millennium Development Goals, namely halving the proportion of the population living in extreme poverty and hunger, reducing the under-five mortality rate, and halving the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.  Egypt’s Vision 2030 articulates clearly the strategy and commitment of the Government towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 and providing inclusive and equitable social protection for all citizens. WFP is now in carrying out extensive consultations with the Government on the alignment of WFP activities within their national plan, focusing on areas where WFP’s expertise can strengthen national programmes and fill the gaps in Government coverage and reach. To ensure continuity and stability of support in this period, this transitional Interim Country Strategic Plan has been developed in line with Egypt’s Vision 2030. Accordingly, the relevant areas of support which will be focused upon in these six months are:

• Strategic outcome 1: Food insecure and most vulnerable children and families in targeted areas of Egypt have access to adequate food all year round.
• Strategic outcome 2: Food insecure refugees and host communities in Egypt have access to adequate food all year round.
• Strategic outcome 3: Targeted populations in Egypt have improved nutritional status by 2030.
• Strategic outcome 4: Smallholder farmer and Bedouin communities in the most vulnerable Governorates of Egypt have resilient livelihoods by 2030.
• Strategic outcome 5: The Government of Egypt has enhanced capacity to identify, target and assist vulnerable populations to achieve zero hunger by 2030. 

Strategic outcomes have incorporated lessons learned from past and current WFP operations, extensive consultations with the Government, donors and partners, and other stakeholders. The overall focus of this plan is to ensure uninterrupted support to the Government of Egypt in WFP’s transition period, and continue strengthening national capacity to tackle the underlying causes of vulnerability to food insecurity and malnutrition while responding to humanitarian needs. This transitional Interim Country Strategic Plan contributes to Egypt’s United Nations Partnership Development Framework, WFP’s Strategic Results 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8 as well as Sustainable Development Goals 2, 3, 4, 13 and 17.